Camas revisits ‘strong council’

The city of Camas is revisiting a 2018 recommendation to adopt a “strong council” form of government.

City Administrator Doug Quinn presented an April 2018 report, authored by a committee of local residents, to the Camas City Council during a Jan. 20 workshop session. The councilors talked about the pros and cons of a possible change and agreed to discuss it further during their Feb. 17 workshop.

“There’s no sense of letting it languish,” Councilor John Svilarich said during the workshop. “We’ve kicked the can down the road for eight years and not talked about it. I think we should continue to talk about it and learn more about it; we’re not going to make a decision if we don’t. We have momentum. Let’s not let this grow mold again.”

Camas currently operates under a “strong mayor” or mayor-council form of government, in which the elected mayor acts as chief executive and administrator of the city.

The recommended “strong council” or council-manager government would retain the current makeup of seven elected city council members, with the mayor as an at-large, elected position and the city manager — hired by the council — acting as chief executive officer of the city.

“We believe the council-manager form of government will provide the most predictable, stable and prosperous framework for the long-term vision of the city of Camas,” the Form of Government Advisory Committee said in its report.

In February 2018, then-Mayor Scott Higgins established the committee in response to a request by then-Councilor Greg Anderson to review the city’s current form of government and explore alternative forms. Former Camas Mayor Nan Henriksen chaired the committee, which included former Camas Mayor Paul Dennis, former City Administrator Lloyd Halverson, and Quinn, the city’s former public works director and interim city administrator.

The committee recommended that the council place two measures on the November 2018 ballot — one proposing the adoption of a council-manager form of government and one proposing the placement of a measure on the February 2019 ballot to make the mayor position elected at large if the change-of-government proposal was approved.

“My presentation, however, was followed by a public tirade from a powerful business citizen (Fisher Investments founder Ken Fisher) who hated the possibility of less influence over the powerful mayor and the future of Camas,” Henriksen said during the Jan. 20 workshop session. “The council, sadly, did nothing but put the study on the shelf.”

Svilarich argued for a council-manager form of government, citing the city’s recent instability and frequent changes in mayoral leadership as issues with the current system.

“I’m passionate about it,” he said. “I’ve been following it for years, and it is our time. Vancouver has gone this way, Washougal has gone this way, Ridgefield has gone this way, Battle Ground has gone this way, and we’re hanging back like we’re still the paper mill town in 1965.”

Henriksen advocated for a hybrid form of government with an elected mayor to mitigate risks, citing the city of Washougal’s successful implementation of a council-manager government in 2018.

“As I told that group many years ago, no form of government guarantees good governance,” she said, “but the change would lower the risk of one destructive individual who would set our governance back for some time to come because of all the power that this form of government has for that one person.”

Ellen Burton, who served as Camas’ interim mayor for six months in 2021, emphasized the complexity and full-time nature of the mayor’s role.

“Serving as mayor is a big job — a really big job,” Burton said during the workshop session. “It is a full-time job as a CEO of a complex organization stretching from in-the-ground infrastructure to on-the-streets public safety to preserving our natural areas and the living room of the city of Camas. The skill set, the aptitudes and the experiences required to successfully perform this role (are critical), and the right person is required.”

Councilor Jennifer Senescu said she’s in favor of keeping the current government structure in place.

“I believe in our citizens and our electoral process, and I believe that the system we have is currently working,” she said during the workshop session. “I think it’s important that our citizens have a voice in our government.”

Washington has 281 cities and towns, with 227, including La Center and Yacolt, operating under a mayor-council form of government and the remaining 54 — including Vancouver, Battle Ground, Ridgefield and Washougal — utilizing a council-manager format, according to Municipal Research and Services Center data.